June 8, 1861 referendum on secession
On June 8, 1861, voters across the state of Tennessee went to the polls in a referendum 'on the state legislature's May 6 declaration of independence from the United States, casting its lot with the newly-formed Confederacy. The question put before the electorate was whether or not to affirm the Ordinance of Secession. Upper Cumberland state senators at the time were Reese Thomas Hildreth (Overton, Fentress, Morgan, and Scott counties), James L. Thompson (Smith and Sumner counties), Edward J. Wood (Warren, Cannon, Coffee, Grundy, and Van Buren counties), Sidney Smith Stanton, Sr. (White, Jackson, and Macon counties), and Jordan Stokes (Wilson and DeKalb counties). Ordinance of Secession : ''DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND ORDINANCE dissolving the federal relations between the State of Tennessee and the United States of America. : First. We, the people of the State of Tennessee, waiving any expression of opinion as to the abstract doctrine of secession, but asserting the right, as a free and independent people, to alter, reform, or abolish our form of government in such manner as we think proper, do ordain and declare that all the laws and ordinances by which the State of Tennessee became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of American are hereby abrogated and annulled, and that all the rights, functions, and powers which by any of said laws and ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the United States, and to absolve ourselves from all the obligations, restraints, and duties incurred thereto; and do hereby henceforth become a free, sovereign, and independent State. : Second. We furthermore declare and ordain that article 10, sections 1 and 2, of the constitution of the State of Tennessee, which requires members of the General Assembly and all officers, civil and military, to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States be, and the same are hereby, abrogated and annulled, and all parts of the constitution of the State of Tennessee making citizenship of the United States a qualification for office and recognizing the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of this State are in like manner abrogated and annulled. : Third. We furthermore ordain and declare that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or under any act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, or under any laws of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed. : Sent to referendum 06 May 1861 by the State legislature, and approved by a vote of 104,913 to 47,238 on 08 June 1861. Results One pro-Union man, writing about the situation in Tennessee in general, said "In Middle & West Tennessee no canvass was allowed - the speaking & printing being all on one side pro-secession. It is said that in East Tennessee a full & free canvass took place." Amanda Dowell, a young diarist living in the Calfkiller Valley of White County, wrote: : “Yesterday was the great day of election in Tennessee. I guess it is voted 'out of the Union' by this time. But it would not have been had the people been allowed to vote their true sentiments. Nearly all the Union men in this neighborhood staid at home... deeming it a hopeless cause. And those who did not go did not vote. (In Yanketown)... about twenty Union men (were) standing there but none of them ventured to vote for fear of their lives. And another man there swore that he did not think he ever would vote again since it was of no use that a man could not do as he wished like honest men ought to.”Medley, Landon Daryle. The History of Van Buren County, Tennessee: “The Early Canebreakers” 1840-1940. Salem, WV: Don Mills, Inc. 1987. Statewide, secession was approved by an overwhelming margin, 104,913 to 47,238. West and Middle Tennessee were in favor of the departure, while East Tennessee remained solidly Unionist. The following table illustrates the results in the Upper Cumberland. '''Note: Though Putnam and Cumberland counties were erected in 1854 and 1856, respectively, citizens of those counties continued to cast ballots in state and federal elections via the precinct systems of the counties their home had formerly been in, until such time as re-apportionment occurred, as required by Article 10, Section 5 of the 1834 state constitution then in force. As it turned out, due to the intervening Civil War, Cumberland and Putnam citizens were not allowed separate elections until 1873. References *South, James Jeffrey. "June 8, 1861 - Tennessee Ratifies Secession" 7score10years.com. 2014. Web. Accessed 7 October 2014. *"Civil War Timeline 1861" tennessee.gov/tsla. n.d. Web. Accessed 7 October 2014. *"Ordinance of Secession of Tennessee". csawardept.com. 2014. Web. Accessed 7 October 2014. *"Tennessee Constitution 1834". tn.gov/tsla. n.d. Web. Accessed 7 October 2014. *"Vote on Secession in East Tennessee, June 8, 1861" n.d. Web. Accessed 7 October 2014. Category:1861 elections Category:The Civil War Category:Clay County elections Category:Cumberland County elections Category:DeKalb County elections Category:Fentress County elections Category:Jackson County elections Category:Macon County elections Category:Overton County elections Category:Putnam County elections Category:Smith County elections Category:Van Buren County elections Category:Warren County elections Category:White County elections